'Last EVER REAL Nokia' phone heads for Verizon, leaky pic-spurt reveals

What may be Nokia’s last ever phone – the Lumia 929 – has broken cover, but you won’t be able to buy it here in Blighty.

Nokia has a full range of kit ready for 2014, but with the transfer of its phones unit to Microsoft, it’s anyone’s guess as to how the devices will be branded.

Which means Nokia’s exclusive-to-Verizon 929 is likely to be the last it releases as an independent Finnish company. The 5-inch full HD heavyweight “leaked” to WP Central blog – the leak being suspiciously detailed – apparently includes an oversampling sensor, making it the third Lumia device to include the technology.

At 166g it’s heavier than the Lumia 925 or 1020, but American punters don’t seem to mind large devices. It runs GDR3, which supports faster quad core processors, the larger screen resolution and includes some backstage improvements.

The faster chip is certainly appreciated on the oversampling camera technology, I discovered at Nokia World in Abu Dhabi while using the 1520 phondleslab (which shares the same hardware internals). The newer Snapdragon hardware halves the shot-to-shot time.

It’s the second exclusive Lumia that Nokia has produced for Verizon this year. The 928 was a boxy repackaging of the 920. More specs can be found here.

Microsoft increased its market share in the US to 4.3 per cent in the last three months, according to Kantar Worldpanel – figures which in isolation should be taken with a sack of salt, but which are useful indicators of general trends.

WP has now tipped into double digits in Europe – making it the fastest-growing platform, albeit from a very low base. ®